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7/25/17

The anti-establishment frustration that swept Donald Trump to
power in the United States and led the UK to vote for Brexit exists in
Germany, but in a much more moderate form, which will not ultimately be
the deciding factor in the national elections in September.

That's the
central conclusion of a Bertelsmann Foundation study of "populism" among
people eligible to vote in the upcoming federal elections.

The researchers defined populism
as hostility to the establishment, the belief that "the people" are
basically a homogeneous group and the view that political leadership
should be the direct expression of popular will. The study found that
29.2 percent of potential voters were thoroughly populist, 33.9 percent
were somewhat populist and 36.9 percent were not populist at all.